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ARCHBISHOP  MAC  HALE: 

HIS  LIFE  AND  TIMES; 
A  LECTURE 

DELIVERED  AT 

TURNER  HALL,  Milwaukee  Ave,  CHICAGO,  ILL, 

ON  THE  J 

NIGHT  0^  '^^.BRUARY  15,  1870, 


BY 


Martin  A.   O'Brennan,  \^]^>  D-, 

132  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago^  III.,   II.  S. 

COUNSELLOR  AT  LAW   AND  AUTHOR    OF  SEVERAL  WORKS 

ON     IRELAND    AND    CATHOLICITY;    FORMERLY, 

EDITOR     AND     PROPRIETOR     OF    THE 

CONNA  UGIIT PATRIOT,  IRELAND. 


P»RIOE,       -       -       25  Cents. 


CHICAGO : 

OTTAWAY  it  BARLOW,  STEAM  PRINTERS,  148  LAKE  STREET. 

1870. 


THE  PUBLISHER'S  REMARKS. 


Though  the  learned  lecturer,  as  himself  at  the  close 
of  his  lecture  observed,  presented  only  a  brief  review 
of  the  subject,  yet  he  has  placed  on  record  a  brilliant 
and  undying  testimon}^  of  the  virtues,  worth,  works 
and  merits  of  Ireland's  recognized  greatest,  most  zeal- 
ous and  learned  Prelate,  appropriately  called  by  the 
gieat  O'Connell  "  The  Lion  of  the  Fold  of  Judah." 

Archbishop  MacHale  is  now  in  lii.^  eightieth  year, 
and  at  present  at  Eome,  attending  the  Qilcumenical 
Council.  No  Prelate  living  has  attracted  so  much 
public  consideration  as  his  Grace,  and  his  fame  is  com- 
mensurate with  the  globe.  Faithful  in  the  discharge  of 
his  sacred  duties  as  an  exalted  dio;nitary  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church,  he  has  yet  always,  proved  himself  the  in- 
trepid asserter  of  his  country's  temj)oral  rights  and 
the  bold  vindicator  of  her  wrongs.  Of  all  laymen, 
the  eloquent  Author  of  this  pamphlet  has  the  most 
intimate  knowledge  of  Arclibishop  MacHale. 

The  lecturer  opened  with  the  lines  of  Denham,  in 
his  «  Couper's  HilL'- 


THE  LECTURE. 

(),  could  I  How  like  llice,  iind  make  tliy  stream 

M}'  great  example,  as  it  is  my  theme  ! 
Tliougli  deep,  yet  clear  ;  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull ; 
Strong  without  rage ;  without  overflowing,  full. — Line  189. 

It  is  universally  admitted  that  no  nation  possesses  so 
pre-eminently,  as  does  Ireland,  those  fine  feelings  of 
the  heart,  which,  if  wisely  and  perseveringly  directed, 
would  have  so  raised  Irishmen  above  the  ordinary 
standard  of  mankind  that  they  wuuld  now  be  the  arbi- 
ters of  the  world.  To  confirm  this  statement,  Sir 
Walter  Kaleigh  and  other  distinguished  authors  could 
be  adduced.  The  enterprising  spirit  and  ardent  zeal 
exhibited  by  the  Celtic  race  in  many  eventful  periods 
of  Europe's  history,  and  especially  of  their  own,  when 
national  glory  or  individual  honor  had  been  invaded, 
supply  proofs  the  clearest  to  establish  the  truth  of 
my  assertion.  Their  zeal  to  establish  fame  in  a  liter 
ary  stand  point  finds  abundant  evidence  in  our  own 
annals  as  well  as  those  of  all  Europe,  whilst  in  a  mili- 
tary point  of  view,  our  own  archives,  the  records  of 
America,  of  the  globe  attest  their  distinguished  merit 
for  deeds  of  chivalry  at  home  and  abroad. 

But  we  shall  not  take  a  larger  space  of  time  or  span 
of  dobe  than  their  native  land,  and  the  reign  of  Queen 


Elizabeth,  which  was  one  of  carnnge  and  a  continuous 
river  of  Catholic  blood  in  Erin.  Their  Catholic  Prelates 
and  Priests  were  hunted  down  like  wolves,  and  the 
price — five  pounds — placed  on  the  heads  of  the  Peo- 
ple's Pastors,  as  on  the  heads  of  the  wild  beasts — the 
favorite  system  being — the  extirpation  of  the  Lord's 
annointed.  Goaded  into  resistence  at  last,  up  sprang 
the  glorious  Rory  O'Moore  of  Leix,  even  at  great 
odds,  and  with  but  few  and  undisciplined  clansmen, 
and  defended  the  land-marks  of  the  hoary  faith  of 
Rome  and  St.  Patrick,  as  well  as  the  outposts  of  national 
independence  throughout  the  land  from  his  own  family 
domain  to  that  of  the  MacGuire  of  Fermanagh.  Hav- 
ing fallen  in  his  careering  fame,  then  up  sprang  the 
O'Neills — Philip,  Shane  and  Hugh — and  the  Red  Hugh 
O'Donnell.  These  were  the  terror  of  the  hereditary 
foe,  and  the  sentinels  on  the  watch-towers  of  creed  and 
country ;  and  had  not  English  treachery,  but  not  Saxon 
valor  in  the  battle  field,  prevailed,  the  heartless  brig- 
ands would  have  quailed  and  been  forever  crushed 
b(  fore  their  valorous  arms. 

The  O'Sullevan  Beare's  peerless  courage  at  the  head 
of  his  170  men,  at  Dunboy — has  no  parallel  in  his. 
tory — if  we  except  Leonidas,  with  his  Spartans  at  the 
Pass  of  Thermopyle.  Characters  of  that  epoch  preg. 
nant  with  events — crowd  on  the  memory — numerous 
as  winking  stars  when  twilight  is  fading  into  morn. 
But    not   Irishmen,  but  an  one  Irishman,  is  now  my 


theme,  and  if  that  illustrious  Irishman,  by  reason  of 
his  sacred  position,  had  not  been  kept  back,  he  would 
be  the  very  embodiment  of  every  qualification  and 
art,  which  have,  at  all  times,  and  in  all  climes,  signal- 
ized the  genuine  Celt.  Except  in  the  character  of  an 
actual  military  man,  he  is  the  tout-en-semhlc — the  faith- 
representative  of  his  race.  [Immense  cheering  for 
"  John,  Archbishop  of  Tiiam."] 

THE    HISTORIC    TELESCOPE. 

Now  using  history  as  a  moral  telescope,  let  us  take 
a  retrospect  glance  through  the  long  hall  of  arts,  sci- 
ence, language,  philosophy,  religion,  politics  and  states- 
manship in  Ireland,  and  when  we  have  narrowly 
inspected  the  busts  of  the  most  illustrious  characters 
on  the  niches,  I  am  disposed  to  think  that  you  will 
agree  with  me,  that  for  versatility  of  genius,  massivity 
of  intellect,  capaciousness  of  mind,  capacity  of  thought, 
vivacity  of  expression,  power  of  argumentation,  pro- 
fundity and  variety  of  learning,  depth  of  discernment, 
j  gentleness  of  manner,  and  intrepidity  of  action,  there 
is  not  in  that  lustrous  hall  a  bust  superior  to  the  living 
bust  of  him  who  is  the  subject  of  my  lecture — his 
Grace,  John  of  Tuam.  [Tremendous  applause  followed 
as  the  sentence  had  closed,  and  the  applause  was  re- 
peated, marking  the  aftection  of  the  exiled  sons  of 
Ireland  for  their  patriot  Prelate.} 

As  to  the  s'inctity  of  personages,  who  were  and  who 
are,  I  shall  not  make  a  comparison.     That  is  not  a  part 


! 

i 

i  of  my  subject.     To  touch  upon  it  would  be  arrogance^ 
:  fis  God  alone  is  the  judge  of  men's  sanctity.    I  confine 
myself  to  things  sensible,  such  as  can   be   sujected   to 
;  the  senses  for  judgment. 

i  Of  all  nations  on  earth,  as  has  already  been  ob- 
i  served,  Ireland,  considering  its-extent, has  beyond  cavil 
I  the  brightest  and  largest  catalo^^ue  of  distinguished 
I  men  as  legislators,  bards,  poets,  artists,  linguists,  gen- 
eral scholars,  statesmen  and  warriors.  The  memory  of 
I  such  men,  placed  on  niches  along  the  vast  hall  of  our 
I  country,  as  well  pre-christian  as  christian,  are  vividly 

I  before  our  mind's  eye,  by  the  aid  of  the  historic  teles- 

i 

i  cope. 

!  "  Just  men,  by  whom  iiripartial  laws  were  given, 

And  Saints,  who  taught  aiul  led  the  way  to  Heaven." 

To  only  a  few  of  these  great  men  shall  we  advert. 
Dubhtagh,  the  poet-laureate  of  the  reigning  monarch, 
when  St.  Patrick  landed  as  Apostle  of  Ireland,  was  a 
great  man,  but  then  his  greatness  was  only  as  a  poet. 
St.  Benin,  or  Beuignus,  successor  of  St.  Patrick,  as  Pri- 
mate of  Armagh,  has  left  to  posterity  only  the  fra- 
grance of  his  sanctity  and  his  "Book  of  Rights" — that  is, 
"  Leabliar  na  g-ceart."  True,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries,  saints  and  learned  men  were  placed  on  the 
!  horizon  of  our  island,  many  and  shining  as  twinkling 
stars  on  the  blue  etherial  vault  of  heaven  on  a  frosty 
night,  when  the  bespangled  ether,  painted  by  the  pla-s- 
tic  hand  and  brush  of  the  Supreme  Artist,  and'  dissolv- 
ing, as  it  were,  into  one  color,  presents  to  the  contem- 


plative  mind  a  rich  feast  for  thought.  There  were 
Ciaian,  Ailbe,  Ibar,  Deighhm,  Fiagh,  Brendan,  Fursey, 
Enna,  ^-of  the  Isles;"  Columcille,  Mel,  Mochay,  Olcan, 
Ceenan,  Loman,  Coleman,  and  a  host  of  other  saints 
and  scholars.  The  like  could  be  predicated  of  the 
seventh,  eighth  and  ninth  centuries;  and  amongst  them 
Columbanus.  But  of  them  all,  except  Columcille  and 
Columbanu?,  it  may  be  said  that  they  confined  their 
labors,  for  the  most  part,  to  religious  and  literary  pur- 
suits. The  two  latter  were,  to  a  great  extent,  the  pro- 
totypes of  "  John  of  Tuam,"  for  they  contended 
against  kings  and  princes  for  the  rights  of  the  people, 
and  the  independence  of  the  Church  of  the  temporal 
powers  ;  and  with  even  Popes  did  Columban  battle  for 
Irish  independence  in  secular  and  disciplinary  matters. 
Cormac  MacCullinan,  Bishop  and  King  of  Cashel, 
has  left  us  "  The  Psalter  of  Cashel,"  and  a  Glossary  of 
difficult  Irish  words,  but  there  his  labors,  as  regard 
literature,  rest.  St.  Malachy  O'Morghar,  Archbishop 
of  Armagh,  restored  order  in  the  Irish  Church  in  the 
beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  a  great  work  that 
was,  but  his  labors  in  literature  were  few,  and  confined 
to  his  own  calling.  The  great  Laurence  O'Toole  of  the 
time  of  the  English  invasion  in  Ireland  displayed  much 
power  of  mind  as  a  Prelate,  and  exhibited  the  sterling 
qualities  of  a  patriot,  but  his  legacy  of  literary  works 
is  not  a  large  one. 

Fearing   to   draw    too   largely  on  the  exchequer  of 
your  patience  I  shall  not  make  further  allusion  to  the 


8 

characters  of  remote   days.      I   shall  come  at  once  to 
the    subject    which    has    brought   us    together — "  The 
Most  Reverend  John  MacHale,  Archbishop  ofTuam."% 
general  view  of  his  grace. 
Of  all  Irishmen   living  he  is   the  only  one  in  whom 
is  centred  the   affectionate  regard   and  the  high  admi- 
ration   of    his    countrymen    at    home,    or    dispersed 
throughout  the  globe.     His  Grace  is  their  polar  star, 
their  guide,  their  hope,  their  idol.     All  this  his  Grace 
knows,    and   yet,  he   is    as    humble  as    the    humblest 
amongst  them.    He  is  the  verily  Pastor  of  the  Irish  peo- 
ple, whom  in  the  time  of  trial,  he  has  taken  under  his 
wing,  as  the  hen  does  her  chickens  on  the  approach  of 
a  storm. 

In  misery's  darkest  cavern  known, 

His  ready  help  was  ever  nigh, 
Of  every  friendless  name  the  friend, 

Of  the  cold  world's  victim,  Avho  came  to  die." 

His  Grace  of  Tuam  has  a  shrine  built  up  to  him  in 
the  hearts  of  the  most  moderate  as  well  as  the  ultra- 
nationalist,  who  goes  for  the  liberation  of  his  "  dear 
island  Jiome"  from  the  sway  of  the  alien.  The  power 
he  has  over  the  minds,  and  the  place  he  occupies  in  the 
hearts  of  the  millions  of  Irishmen  throughout  the 
world  confer  on  him  a  dignity  and  a  supremacy  rarely 
if  ever,  possessed  by  any  man  in  ancient  or  modern 
times.  The  Liberator,  O'Connell,  and  the  great  Apostle 
of  Temperance,  Father  Mathew,  are  the  only  two  men, 
who,  in  any  manner,  rivaled  his  Grace  of  Tuam  in  the 
general  respect  and  esteem  of  his  countrymen.     But 


9 

yet,  transcendant  as  were  the  talents  and  superhuman 
and  successful  as  were  the  struggles  of  the  immortal 
O'Connell,  there  were  still,  certain  points,  on  which 
some  of  Ireland's  most  sincere  sons  differed  from  the 
Emancipator ;  and,  likewise,  for  calumnious  and  enven- 
omed shafts  he"  was  a  mark.  Though  glorious  and 
extremely  impressive  as  were  the  triumphs,  achieved  by 
Father  Mathew,  yet,  however,  they  were,  alas !  trans- 
ient in  their  effects ;  nor  did  the  grand  precepts  he 
enunciated  take  the  form  of  universal  and  permanent 
practice.  Millions,  for  the  time,  flocked  to  take  shelter 
under  his  white  banner  of  love,  but,  it  is  to  be  deplored 
that  most  of  the  millions,  though  not  returning  to  in- 
temperance, fell  away  from  the  pledge  of  total  absti- 
nence. But  his  Grace  of  Tuam  has  lived  to  behold 
some  of  the  objects,  for  which  he  has  contended, 
effected ;  nor  has  he  outlived  his  popularity.  And, 
now,  in  the  winter  of  his  labors  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  and  of  Fatherland,  he  can  feel  that  in  the 
general  respect  and  love  of  those,  whose  fathers  were 
only  children,  when  he  first  undertook  his  divine 
mission,  there  is  an  earnest  of  the  everlasting  reward 
in  store  for  hiui !  The  most  remarkable  phase  in  his 
life  is  that  even  those,  who  differed  from  him  on  almost 
every  question  of  religion  and  politics,  have  agreed  in 
doing  him  honor  as  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  learned 
linguist,  a  powerful  controversialist,  a  profound  theo" 
logian,  an  undeviating  politician,  a  zealous  Prelate,  a 


10 

devoted  Irishman  and  a  true  gentleman.     And  as  the 
poet  Thomson  sings : 

"  Who'er  amidst  the  sons 
Of  reason,  valor,  liberty  and  virtue 
Displays  distinguish'd  merit,  is  a  noble 

Of  Nature's  own  creating." 

HIS  GRACE  IS  THE  CONNECTING  LINK. 

f  three  generations  each  of  which  has  vied  in  paying 
him  a  distinct  tribute  of  affection  and  regard.  His  un- 
faltering fidelity  to  his  deeply-rooted  religious  and 
national  principles  has  been  the  great  secret  of  all  his 
power,  influence  and  triumphs.  What  Hierophilos  was 
in  1820,  as  Professor  in  Maynoth — what  the  Bishop  of 
Maronia  was  in  1825,  the  same  now  is  John,  Archbishop 
of  Tuam  in  1870,  when  "  his  lamp  of  life  is  flickering." 
The  snow  of  age  is  on  his  sacred  head,  but 

"  The  power  of  thought — the  magic  of  the  mind," 

such  as  in  youth,  are  now  in  the  patriot  Prelate.  His 
body  is  old,  though  vigorous,  but  his  mind  is  young, 
thus  resembling  the  eagle  of  his  native  mountains. 
"  Tempora  mutantur  sed  nonmutatiir  in  ilUs.^^  Times  have 
changed,  but  "John  of  Tuam"  has  not  changed  in  rela- 
tion to  the  noble  course  he  carved  out  for  himself,  when 
he  was  about  to  enter  upon  the  busy  stage  of  life 
From  the  path  of  truth,  justice,  honor  and  duty  he  has 
not  been  deflected  through  the  hope  of  pension,  [place, 
power  or  reward.  On  the  contrary,  his  inflexibility  of 
purpose  has  served  as  a  beacon  to  Irish  patriots  during 
half  a  century — an  inflexibility  that  has  shed  on  our 
chequered  career  a  light,  which  has  pointed  to  the  path 


11 


of  faith,  and  been  a  flaming  torch  to  every  lover  of 
Fatherland.  The  effulgence  of  the  flambeau  has  been 
looked  to  by  the  Protestant  patriots  O'Brien,  Mitchel, 
Davis,  Martin,  as  well  as  by  the  Catholic  Meagher 
Duffy,  Lucas,  Doheny,  O'Neill  and  O'Mahony.  In 
their  esteem,  John  of  Tuam  has  bpen  the  ideal  of  pat- 
riotism. To  him  may  be  well  applied  the  lines  of 
Shakspeare : 

"O,  good  old  man,  how  well  in  tliee  appears 
The  constant  service  of  the  antique  world, 
When  service  sweat  for  duty,  not  for  meed ! 
Thou  art  not  for  tlie  fashion  of  tliese  times. 
When   none  will  sweat,  but  for  promotion." 

There  are  in  Ireland  certain  personages  of  his  Grace's 
Order,  who  are  "  for  the  fashion  of  these  times,"  and 
who  "sweat  only  for  promotion,"  but,  I  must  not  draw 
comparisons. 

"Whither  am  I  strayed,  I  need  not  raise 

Trophies  to  thee  for  other  men's  dispraise, 

Nor  is  thy  fame  on  lesser  ruins  built, 

Nor  needs  thy  juster  title  the  foul  guilt 

Of  foreign  rule,  which  to  secure  its  power, 

Must  have  our  brothers,  sons  and  kindred  cower." 

EEVIEW    OF   THE    CHIEF   INCIDENTS    OF   DIS    LIFE. 

Though  Irishmen  generally  are  acquainted  with  the 
history  of  our  loved  Prelate,  yet  it  will  no  donbt  be  of 
interest  to  present  a  general  review  of  the  leading 
events  of  his  life  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  some- 
thing like  a  record,  however  imperfect,  of  the  life  of 
such  a  man.  Be  it  observed  in  limine  that  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tuam  mixed  in  politics  only  when  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  spiritual  functions,  as  an  Irish 
Prelate,  demanded  his  interference.     The  ccmdition  of 


12 

Ireland  is  very  peculiar,  as  it  differs  in  one  particular 
respect  from  other  countries.  The  landlords  are,  as  a 
rule,  aliens  in  blood  and  religion,  and  most  of  them 
absentees.  The  Catholic  population  have,  therefore, 
been  treated  as  serfs;  and  their  devoted  Bishops  and 
Clergy  were  the  only  aristocracy  to  which  they  could 
look  up  for  protection  and  sympathy  in  their  trials  and 
sufferings.  Generally  speaking,  whatever  affected 
their  temporal  interests  afi'ected  their  spiritual  welfare^ 
The  Protestant  landlords  harassed  them  by  the  exac- 
tion of  exhorbitant  rents,  and  threats  of  evictions  for 
the  purpose  of  coercing  them,  if  possible,  to  trample 
on  their  conscience  by  voting  for  obnoxious  Members 
and  compelling  them  to  send  their  children  to  Protes- 
tant schools,  where  there  was  danger  to  faith  and  mor- 
als. In  the  next  place,  his  Grace  of  Tuam  saw  as 
clearly  as  the  truth  of  a  mathematical  theorem  that 
as  long  as  Ireland  would  be  legislated  for  in  a  foreign 
city,  such  as  London,  so  long  would  the  country  be 
sinking  into  pauperism  and  degradation,  and  its  Catho- 
lic people  would  be  flying  from  it  to  other  countries, 
where  it  was  certain  many  of  them,  as  experience  has 
taught,  would  fall  away  from  the  faith  of  Rome  and  St. 
Patrick,  and  their  souls,  dearly  purchased  at  the  price 
of  the  blood  of  the  Redeemer,  would  be  lost  to  Heav- 
en. Archbishop  MacHale's  sagacity  and  penetrating 
genius  having  fathomed  the  peril,  he  felt  it  to  be  an  im- 
portant part  of  his  duties,   as  an  Irish  Bishop,  to  do 


13 

everything  in  his  power  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the 
"tide  of  emigration,  and  lielp  other  men  to  throw  up  an 
embankment  against  the  torrent  of  British  tyranny, 
which,  whilst  it  had  been  operating  ruinously  to  the 
Irish  nation,  was  also  insidiously  effecting  immense  in 
jury  to  the  hoary  faith  of  our  ancestors.  Hence 
Archbishop  MacHale  became,  to  some  extent,  a  politi- 
cian, but,  as,  you  plainly  see,  only  as  far  as  the  neces- 
sary defense  of  Catholicity  required  of  him. 

HIS  BIRTH  AND  EARLY  LIFE. 

In  1791,  as  far  as  I  can  remember,  his  grace  was 
born  at  '='Tubbernaveen,  convenient  to  the  classic  hill 
of  Nephin,  in  view  of  Lough  Conn,  not  far  from  "■  the 
graves  of  the  French,"  who  were  massacred  by  the 
English  in  '98,  and  about  fifteen  miles  from  Killalla, 
where  the  French  landed,  and  The  Tree  of  Liberty 
was  planted.  To  that  sacred  spot  I  went  with  other 
Irishmen,  who  registered  a  vow  against  foreign  domina- 
tion 

From  what  I  have  said  can  be  seen  that  the  child- 
hood of  His  Grace  of  Tuam  was  passed  in  the  most 
bloody  and  troublous  times  of  our  sad  history — times 
when  Ireland's  wrongs,  persecutions  and  oppression 
culminated. 

"  Wrongs  unredressed,  or  insults  unavenged." 

*Written  correctly  "Tubberna  b-Fiaun,"  pronounced  "Tubber  naveen," 
that  is,  "the  well  or  spring  of  tlie  Flans  or  Fenians,''  of  pre-christian  Ire- 
land. The  name  Fian  or  Fenian  is  as  old  as  Erin.  Every  Milesian  is  by 
origin  and  blood  a  Fenian.  Hence,  if  at  any  time,  (as  never),  a  cen- 
sure be  hurled  by  the  Holy  Father  against  Fenians,  all  Irishmen  would 
fall  under  it. 


14 

Young  though  was  John  MacHale,  in  the  terrible 
days  of  '98,  yet,  unquestionably,  his  after-career  was 
mainly  moulded  and  influenced  by  the  impressions 
made  on  his  tender  mind  by  the  sights  he  saw  and  the 
tales  of  woe  he  heard.  No  time  can  efface  from  the 
tablet  of  a  faithful  memory  early  impressions.  They 
live  as  long  as  life" remains. 

HIS  EARLY  EDUCATION. 

Having  received  such  elementary  education  as  the 
locality  afforded,  the  young  John  was  sent  to  a  Latin 
school  at  Castlebar,  the  capital  of  the  county  of  Mayo. 
There  he  learned  the  languages  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome.  The  ease  and  quickness  with  which  he  un- 
knotted the  intricate  passages  in  the  old  authors  sur- 
prised his  teacher  and  school-fellows. 

JOHN  AT  MAYNOOTH. 

In  or  about  the  year  A.  D.  1811,  he  entered  May- 
nooth  College  as  a  student,  where  his  blooming  and 
great  talents  placed  him,  after  a  short  time,  in  the  van 
of  his  fellow-students.  Here,  also,  his  assiduity  in  his 
studies,  his'unpretending  piety,  and  his  display  of  rare 
abilities  endeared  him  to  his  Professors.  So  marked 
were  his  zeal  and  proficiency  during  his  collegiate 
course,  that  at  an  age,  comparatively  early,  he  was  ap, 
pointed  a  Lecturer,  and  shortly  afterwards,  a  Professor 
of  Dogmatic  Theology.  In  this  position,  he  soon  bril- 
liantly distinguished'himself  by  tongue  and  pen. 


HIS  GRACE  AS  A  WRITER — THE  BIBLE  SOCIETIES,  "HIEROPHILOS." 

At  that  peri'od,  the  questions  of  Bible  Societies,  the 
Protestant  establishment  and  Catholic  Emancipation 
agitated  the  minds  of  the  people.  In  the  Conservative 
journals  of  Dublin  there  appeared  from  time  to  time 
powerful  and  eloquent  letters  over  the  signature  of 
*'  Bibliophilos,"  and  in  defense  of  the  Bible  Societies, 
which,  as  well  as  I  can  recollect,  were  the  productions 
of  a  learned  and  an  eloquent  lawyer,  counsellor  North. 
These  .lucubrations  demanded  an  answer  from  some 
Catholic  pen,  but  the  gauntlet,  thus  thrown  down,  no 
one  would  venture  to  take  up,  until  a  timid,  cloistered 
Priest,  unaccustomed  to  public  controversy,  and  of  no 
forensic  experience  in  unravelling  points,  as  was  "  Bib- 
liophilos," entered  the  list  under  the  iiom  de  plume  of 
"  Hierophilos."  And,  who  was  the  beardless  champion 
of  Catholicity — "  Hierophilos."  I  know  you  anticipate 
the  answer  —  Rev.  John  MacHale.  [Tremendous 
applause.] 

It  is  now  just  forty-three  years  since  accident  placed 
in  my  hands  a  pamphlet,  containing  the  letters  of  the 
religious  antagonists,  who,  never  for  once,  descended  to 
low  language  in  their  discussion.  "  Bibliophilos"  com. 
plimented  in  the  highest  terms  "  Hierophilos,"  whom 
he  assumed  to  be  an  exalted  and  matured  dignitary  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  little  knowing  that  it  was  the 
young  cloistered  Professor  of  Maynooth.  '•  Hierophi- 
los," on  the  other  hand,  would  not  "allow  himself  to  be 


16 


outdone  in  politeness,  but  paid  a  marked  tribute  to  the 
accomplishments  and  learning  of  "  Bibliophilos."  The 
substance  of  one  of  Dr.  Mac  Hale's  eulogiums  of  the 
abilities  of  his  opponent  recurs  to  ray  mind.  A  writer 
in  a  London  journal — I  think,  the  Weehly  Register — 
made  some  severe  remarks  on  *'  Bibliophilos,"  when 
"  Hierophilos,"  taking  the  part  of  his  antagonist,  re- 
plied in  almost  the  following  words,  (I  cannot  be  sure 
after  so  long  a  lapse  of  time):  "As  well  might  the  low- 
ly workman  cast  an  artist's  glance  over  the  sublimity 
of  St.  Paul's,  (London),  and  attempt  to  rival  its  mag- 
nificence, as  the  editor  of  the  Weeklf/  Register  vie  with 
"  Bibliophiloh."  How  generous,  and  how  sublime  was 
the  compliment  of  the  young  Priest  to  his  bigoted 
rival.  But  as  great  and  chivalrous  military  Generals 
have  ever  been  highminded  to  their  opposing  foes,  so 
were  the  two  matchless  religious  disputants.  Each,  it 
would  seem,  argumented  for  what  each  considered  the 
truth. 

The  letters  of  "Hierophilos"  were  distinguished  for 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  subject,  a  vigor  of  lan- 
guage, an  irresistibility  of  argument  and  an  attraction 
of  style  in  their  treatment.  Hence,  they  created  a 
legitimate  sensation,  and  immediately  threw  him  into 
the  foremost  rank  of  Catholic  controversialist  writers. 
Such  was  Dr.  Mac  Hale's  first  entry  on  the  arena  of 
bustling  life. 


17 


HIS  CONSECRATION  AS  BISHOP  OF  MARONIA. 

In  May,  1825,  or'26,  he  was  created  "Bishop  ofMar- 
onia,"  in  partihus.  and  appointed  cum  jure  successionis 
—Coadjutor  to  Dr.  Waldron,  Bishop  of  Killala,  his  native 
diocese.  He  was  at  that  time,  resident  in  Maynooth 
College  as  Professor,  a  position  he  had  filled  for  about 
eleven  years  previous  to,  and  a  few  years  after,  his  ele- 
vation to  the  mitre,  which  he  graced,  rather  than  it 
him.  It  is  "  the  man  who  confers  the  dignity  on  the 
position,  not  the  position  on  the  man,"  and  no  man  has 
ever  yet  bestowed  greater  lustre  on  the  mitre  than  his 
Grace  of  endless  fame — John,  Archbishop  of  Tuam. 
[Indescribable  applause,  oft  repeated.] 

"  EVIDENCES  AND  DOCTRINES  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH." 

While  still  at  Maynooth,  in  1827,  he  composed  and 
gave  to  the  world,  "  The  Evidences  and  Doctrines  of 
the  Catholic  Church."     The  composition  was 

" Though  deep,  yet  clear;  though  gentle,  yet  not  dull; 
Strong  without  rage  ;  without  o'erflowing,  full." 

This  inimitable  volume  attained,  on  its  very  appear- 
ance, to  such  celebrity,  not  only  in  Ireland  and  Great 
Britain,  but  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  that  it  was 
translated  into  the  French,  German  and  other  langua- 
ges. 

NEW  SERIES  OF  THE  LETTERS  OF  "  HIEROPHILOS" 

Over  the  signature  of  "John,  Bishop  of  Maronia,"  he 
reproduced  a  series  of  the  letters  which  were  first  pub- 
lished under  his  nom  de  plume,  "  Hierophilos."     Bishop 


18 

MacHale,  on  quitting  Maynooth,  resided  in  Ballina,  a 
few  miles  from  Tubber-na-veen,  where  as  Coadjutor  to 
the  good  and  learned  Bishop  Waldi-on,  he  conciliated 
for  himself  the  affections  and  veneration  of  the  clergy 
and  people.  He  was  their  idol,  and  was  called  "  The 
Star  of  the  West,"  but  time  has  proved  him  to  be  "The 
Star  of  all  Ireland" — West  and  East,  North  and  South- 

HIS  ELEVATION  TO  THE  SEE  OF  TUAM. 

In  obedience  to  the  election  of  him  as  successor  to 
the  Most  Rev.  Oliver  Kelly  of  Tuam,  and  the  confirm- 
ation of  that  election  by  Rome,  the  devoted  people  of 
Killalla  are  to  lose  their  beloved  Bishop.     The  news  of 
this  deservedly  acquired  elevation  to  the  metropolitan 
See  of  Connaught  made  local  petty  tyrants  tremble, 
while  a  few  vacillating  aristocratic  Catholics  shrugged 
up    their  shoulders,  and  intolerant  bigots  grew  pale- 
An  immense  procession  from  Ballina  accompanied  him 
to  Castlebar:  and  several  miles  outside  Tuam,  he  was 
received  by  an  enthusiastic  and  gorgeous  cortege,  from 
whom  cheer  after  cheer  of  a  "  Cead  mile  failte,"  pro- 
ceeding, made  the  welkin  ring,  and  a  magnificent  ban_ 
quet  was  given  in  his  honor  on  the  night  of  his  arrival 
in  the  city  sacred  to  the  memory  of  St.  Jarlath,  its  first 
Bishop.     The  installation  of  his  Grace  as  Archbishop 
of  Tuam  took  place  in  the  beautiful  Cathedral,  in  No- 
vember, 1834.     Hence,  may  be  seen  that  his  Grace  has 
been  wearing  the  mitre  for  a  period  of  forty-five  years , 
respectively  as  successor  of  St.  Muredach,  first  Bishop 


19^ 

of  Killalla ;  and  of  St.  Jarlath,  first  Prelate   of  Tuam. 
It  was  in  A.  D.  1152,  Tuam    was   erected  into   an 
Archdiocese  at  the  Council  of  Kells,  County  of  Meath. 

HIS  GRACE  AS  A  PULPIT  ORATOR. 

As  a  pulpit  orator,  Archbishop  MacHale  has  reached 
the  highest  pinnacle,  and  to  this  day,  his  faculty  of 
memory  is  proverbial.  Whatever  he  writes,  he  can  re- 
peat by  heart  without  the  slighest  deviation.  In  this 
respect,  I  know  of  no  equal  for  him  but  Shiel. 

HIS  SERMONS  AT  ROME. 

His  Grace's  magnificent  sermons,  preached  at  Rome, 
about  1832,  established  his  fame  in  that  city,  and 
gained  for  him  the  respect  and  admiration  of  his  Holi- 
ness, Gregory  XVI,  who,  in  token  of  his  esteem,  be- 
stowed on  him  several  valuable  presents ;  aud  amongst 
them  richly  embroidered  vestments,  suitable  to  the  dig- 
nity of  a  learned  Bishop.  Those  sermons  were  transla- 
ted into  Italian,  by  the  Abbot  of  Lucca,  at  present 
Apostolic  Nuncio,  at  Vienna. 

HIS  grace's  sermons  in  A  VOLUME.      HIS  SERMONS  AT  BALLY- 
MOTE. 

His  Grace's  many  sermons  will,  no  doubt,  be  all 
printed  in  one  volume,  and  of  them  not  the  least  interest- 
ing will  be  his  sermon  at  Ballymote,  County  Sligo,  in 
1864.  Whilst  drawing  attention  to  the  great  difficul- 
ties the  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Tighe  had  to  encounter  in  his 
efforts  to  build  a  Catholic  Church,  his  Grace  took  occa- 


20 

sion  to  denounce  the  nefarious  system  of  extermina- 
tion, and  the  wicked  pohcy  of  the  British  Senate, 
which,  so  far  from  condemning,  sanctioned  it  with  the 
view  of  "  thinning  the  turbulent  Celts." 

That  powerful  discourse  acted  as  a  thunder  storm  on 
the  nerves  of  the  minionsof  foreign  rule,  whilst  a  certain 
personage  at  Dublin  felt  the  weight  of  the  sarcasm.  "It 
has  been  the  wise  dispensations  of  Providence  that  the 
Irish  Catholics  would  be  exterminated,  in  order  that 
they  would  spread  the  faith  in  distant  countries ! ! !" 
Never  can  I  forget  the  burning  language  of  that  ser- 
mon, which  was  published  in  the  Connaught  Patriot, 
verbatim^  as  it  was  spoken.  His  Grace's  discourses  in 
the  Irish  language  plough  up  the  hearts  of  his  flock 
from  their  very  depths,  and  penetrate  the  inmost 
recesses  of  the  mind  and  the  shrine  of  the  soul. 

NATIONAL  EDUCATION  AND  THE  PROTESTANT  ESTABLISHMENT. 

During  the  Melbourne  administration  the  letters  of 
his  Grace  on  the  subject  of  National  Education  and  the 
Protestant  Establishment  in  Ireland  were  numerous, 
powerful  and  cogent,  and  from  affixing  his  name  to 
them  as  "John,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,"  he  never  shrank, 
though  by  such  action  he  left  himself  open  to  prose- 
cution. His  Grace  could  not  be  induced  to  compro- 
mise truth. 

HIS  GRACE  BEFORE  THE  BRITISH  SENATE. 

For  instance  when  a  few  years  ago  he  was  being  ex- 


2Ji 


amined  before  the  British  Parliament,  in  reply  to  an 
intolerant  bigoted  Member  he  said,  "  They  call  me  the 
Archbishop  of  Tuam  and  1  hww^  that  lam  the  Archbishop 
of  Tuam.''  To  say  so  he  was,  then,  penal  as  the  eccle- 
siastical Title  Act  was  not  repealed.  In  the  early  part 
of  1835,  when  Lord  Huddington  was  the  Tory  Lord 
Lieutenant,  his  Grace  signed  his  name  to  his  letters, 
"John,  Archbishop  of  Tuam."  His  Excellency  called 
for  a  prosecution  but  the  Archbishop  was  defiant,  and 
there  was  no  prosecution.     So  much  for  consistency. 

In  1847  he  had  collected  and  published  in  one  vol- 
ume all  his  letters  up  to  that  date,  and  on  last  year  a 
further  series  of  the  same  letters,  with  additional  ones, 
issued  from  the  press. 

HIS  GRACE  AS  A  POLITICAL  ORATOR. 

Numerous,  thrilling  and  truly  eloquent  are  the 
speeches  he  delivered  on  the  hustings,  public  meetings 
and  public  banquets  in  a  distinct  volume,  as  grand 
utterances,  which  will  serve  as  a  political  text  book. 
Those  speeches  have  reference  to  the  wrongs,  grievan- 
ces and  oppressions,  which  "our  loved  island  home" 
has  experienced  under  the  English  usurpation.  I 
have  said  "  usurpation"  because  according  to  St.  Thom- 
as Aquinas,  when  a  person  or  nation  has  assumed 
power  to  rule  without  the  consent — not  to  say  against 
the  will,  of  the  people,  the  exercise  of  authority  is  not 
power f  but  the  absence  of  it,  and  such  has  been  the  condi- 


22 

tion  of  England  iu  relation  to  Ireland.  For  we  not  only 
did  not  consent  to  be  governed  by  aliens,  but  we  have 
persistently  demurred;  and  our  ancestors,  in  many  a 
hard  fought  battle,  protested  against  the  sway  of  Eng- 
land in  our  native  land ;  and  signed  that  emphatic  pro- 
test by  their  best  blood.  And  in  the  last  few  years  we 
have  suffered  exilement — forced  and  voluntary — in 
carceration  and  death  rather  than  tacitly  submit  to  its 
continuance. 

HIS  GRACE  AT  KINVARA,  COUNTY  OF  GALWAY,  AT  THE  FUNERAL  OF 
BISHOP  FRENCH. 

An  important  fact  in  his  Grace's  life  is  his  conduct  at 
the  funeral  of  The  Most  Rev.  Dr.  French,  Bishop  of 
Kilmacduogh  and .  Kilfenora,  immediately  after  the 
passing  of  the  Irish  Ecclesiastical  Title  Act,  by  a  provi- 
sion in  which  Catholic  Prelates  and  Priests  were  prohib- 
ited under  a  heavy  penalty,  from  appearing  outside  the 
precincts  of  their  churches  in  their  sacred  robes^ 
"John  of  Tuam,"  disregarding  such  an  enactment 
which  was  derogatory  to  his  high  office,  robed  himself 
in  his  full  pontifiicals.  When  the  Archbishop,  thus  at- 
tired, was  about  to  enter  the  gate  of  the  cemetery,  of 
which  the  Protestant  Rector  had  the  control,  the  latter 
with  characteristic  temerity,  informed  his  Grace  that  it 
was  illegal  for  him  to  appear  in  public  in  his  "  Papist 
habiliments,"  adding  that  he  would  not  allow  him  to 
enter.  The  intrepid  "John  of  Tuam,"  crozier  in  hand, 
ordered  the  insolent  Parson  to  stand  aside,  and,  thus 


28 

fully  vested  he  entered  and  performed  the  solemn  rites 
of  the  Catholic  Church  over  the  gi*ave  of  Bishop 
French^  who  was  at  first,  Protestant  Warden  at  Gal- 
way,  but  he  became  a  convert  to  the  old  faith  of 
Rome,  whereas  his  ancestors  in  penal  days  had  fallen 
away.  Thousands  of  instances  of  Archbishop  Mac 
Hale's  heroic  confession  to  the  faith,  made  by  him  in 
face  of  imminent  danger,  could  I  adduce.     But 

"  Virtue  outbuilds  the  pr3'^aniids, 

Her  monuments  shall  last  when  Egypt's  fall." 

V 

"  Virtue  is  bold,  and  goodness  never  fearful." 

On  many  a  trying  occasion  has  his  Grace  shown  him- 
self "The  Lion  of  the  Fold  of  Judah." 

HIS  WORKS  IN  THE  IRISH  LANGUAGE. 

Besides  his  erudite  compositions  in  the  English  lan- 
guage, Irish  literature  is  largely  indebted  to  him.  His 
love  and  admiration  of  the  rich,  euphonius  and  com- 
prehensive tongue  of  his  forefathers  are  next  to  his 
love  of  God  and  Catholicity.  He  has,  always,  mani- 
fested the  greatest  regard  for  every  person,  who  could 
either  read,  or  write  it,  and  substantially  marked  his 
respect  for  any  scholar,  who  in  any  manner,  co-opera- 
ted in  preserving  it  from  decay.  In  all  parts  of  his 
diocese  the  catechism  and  other  pious  works  printed 
in  old  Celtic  characters,  have  been  taught,  and  his 
Grace  has  made  it  a  practice  to  preach  in  the  rural 
parishes  in  Irish,  and  with  the  use  of  such  a  vehicle,  of 
which  he  commands  so  powerful  a  mastery,  he  carries 


24 

with  him  his  crowded  congregations  to  take  a  view  of 
the  ineffable  joys  of  heaven,  or  in  thought,  leads  them 
to  the  depths  of  hell,  and  gives  them  a  foretaste  of  the 
pains  of  purgatory.  Who,  that  has  heard  and  seen 
him  (even  though  ignorant  of  the  Irish  tongue),  in  his 
unparallelled  flights  of  Irish  trope  and  metaphor,  as 
his  words  coerced  tears  for  sin,  or  made  the  eye  glad- 
den up  at  the  vivid  representation  of  virtue  and  its 
certain  reward,  without  being  struck  with  wonder- 
ment. Though  his  words  are  sometimes  old  they  are 
ever  new  in  consequence  of  the  manner  of  his  treat- 
of  the  subject. 

MOORE's  melodies,  IRISH    POEMS,  &C. 

To  his  national  zeal  and  giant  labors  do  we  owe  the 
publication  of  some  valuable  works  in  Irish.  Of 
Moore's  "  Irish  Melodies"  he  has  translated  and  pub- 
lished in  the  Celtic  dialect  more  than  sixty  ;  and  in  the 
exact  metre  of  the  original.  The  lecturer  here  recited 
in  Irish  "  The  Minstrel  Boy,"  which  drew  down  the 
whole  house  in  showers  of  applause.  He  has  given  to 
us  six  books  of  Homer's  Iliad  in  Greek,  with  an  Irish 
translation  on  opposite  pages  in  the  same  hexameter  or 
measure  as  the  original  with  notes  appended.  This 
large  octavo  volume  is  of  itself  enough  to  eternise  the 
name  of  "  John  MacHale.  Stahat  mater^'  Dies  Irw  in 
Irish  are  touching  and  beautiful  as  are  his  other 
Irish  hymns.  Some  of  them  in  Irish  the  lecturer  re- 
peated.    Finally    the   Pentateuch,  translated  from  the 


2"5 

Hebrew  into  Irij^h'  and  English  with  copious  notes  and 
comments  subjoined,  forming^  the  first  volume  of  an 
Irish  Catholic  Bible,  has  appeared.  And  we  pray  that 
his  Grace's  life  (now  in  his  eightieth  year),  may  be 
spared  to  see  accomplished  the  greatest  of  all  his 
works  as  an  inestimable  legacy  to  the  Gael  of  Ireland 
and  of  the  world,  for  we,  too,  like  the  dispersed  He- 
brews, expect,  one  day,  to  return  and  make  our  own 
dear  language  the  medium  of  transacting  trade,  com- 
merce and  the  professions.     [Loud  applause.] 

The  works,  enumerated,  if  he  had  never  published 
any  others,  entitle  him  to  the  warmest  acknowledg- 
ments of  all  literary  students  in  general,  and  to  the 
gratitude  of  his  countrymen  in  particular,  whose  lan- 
guage he  has  with,  such  success,  labored  to  adorn,  en- 
rich and  perpetuate. 

HIS  GRACE  AS  A  POLITICIAN. 

Living,  as  the  Archbishop  has  lived,  in  the  midst  of 
tyrant  landlords,  and  having  had  to  encounter  "  prowl- 
ing" bigots,  who  have  infested  his  diocese,  his  name  has 
of  necessity,  more  frequently  than  all  the  Irish  Bish- 
ops together,  appeared  in  the  arena  of  politics.  That 
was  unavoidable,  as  every  person,  acquainted  with  the 
province  of  Connaught,  clearly  understands. 

His  Grace's  opinions,  therefore  on  the  chief  questions 
of  the  day,  as  far  as  they  have  reference  to  Ireland,  are 
so  well  known  that  it  would  be  trifling  with  your 
understanding  were  I  to  occupy  your  time  with  a 
rehearsal  of  them. 

EIS  GRACE  OPENS  MAYO. 

Many  interesting  acts  of  the  Archbishop's  career  pre- 


26 

sent  themselves,  one  of  which  I  shall  now  relate  as  it  floats 
on  my  memory.  There  is  in  Mayo  a  branch  of  the  Browns, 
which  had  remained  Catholic  until  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  when  for  the  sake  of  reward 
they  apostatised  from  the  faith  of  their  fathers.  In 
'87  and  after  years  a  fiendish  friend  of  the  apostate 
tribe,  hung,  and  killed  without  judge  or  jury,  Priests 
and  laymen  as  they  became  obnoxious  to  him.  He 
was  a  Privy  Councillor  of  the  Dublin  Castle.  Of  him, 
O'Kelly,  the  poet  says  : 

"  To  hang,  kill  and  quarter  his  fort  is, 

Religion  he  treats  a  jest, 
So  sanguine  a  tool  of  the  Court  is 

The  horrid  and  bloody  old  bear  of  the  west  " 

The  words,  quoted,  I  read  when  only  eight  years  of 
age,  and  shall  never  forget  them.  I  saw  in  my  child- 
hood when  lived  the  savage,  described  by  the  poet,  and 
young  as  I  was,  amazement  possesed  me  that  such  a 
filthy,  bloated,  fatted  brate  was  allowed  to  live.  The 
atrocities  and  barbarities  "  of  the  old  bear"  must  have 
made  an  indelible  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 
young  MacHale  as  he  lived  at  the  very  time  that  the 
impious  wretch  had  been  perpetrating  his  hideous 
enormities  And,  that  John  of  Tuam  remembered  them 
he  showed  by  watching  for  the  opportunity  to  inflict 
on  his  son  "  Seagham  na  Sagart,"*  a  signal  moral  chas- 
tisement. The  Browns  of  Westporthouse  and  those 
of  Claremount — the  residence  of  the  "Old  Savage"— the 
Right  Hon.  Dennis  Brown, — had,  as  they  thought,  a 
patent  to  elect  whom  they  pleased  as  representatives 
from  the  county  of  Mayo  to  the  British  Parliament. 
In  or  about  1836,  Mayo  was  on  the  eve  of  an  election, 


*  John  of  the  priests,  or  "  The  priest-hunter." 


97 

John  of  Taam,  thinking  that  his  opportunity  was  at 
hand,  buckling  on  the  armor  of  the  Lord  (for  the  mo- 
ment was  one  when  outraged  religion  was  to  be  vindi- 
cated) sounded  the  tocsin,  summoned  the  Pastors  and 
flocks  to  council  and  to  action.  Having  maturely  con- 
sulted and  promptly  acted,  he  rejected  the  hereditary 
tyrants,  elected  liberal  meml)ers,  and  thus  rescued  clas- 
sic Catholic  Mayo  from  the  grinding  bondage  of  ages. 
At  a  public  dinner  at  the  time  of  the  canvassing,  his 
Grace,  rising  to  the  altitude  of  the  struggle,  and  the 
sublimity  of  his  subject  said  :  "  I  shall  take  with  me 
the  hereditary  foe  to  the  top  of  "Croagh  Patrick"  (as  it 
was  near  and  in  view  of  the  Marquis  of  Sligo's  at 
Westport — cousin  of  "the  Priest-hunter" — John  Brown) 
and  from  their  eminence,  hurl  them  into  their  orig- 
inal obscurity,  as  St.  Patrick  hurled  the  serpents  into 
t"Logna  n-duin."  He  kept  his  word — he  drove  into 
obscurity  the  son  of  "  old  Dennis,"  who  but  a  few  years 
before  could  hang  a  priest  without  judge  or  jury. 
What  a  wonderful  change  did  one  undaunted,  deter 
rained  man  of  God  effect  against  a  gang  of  legal  rob. 
bers — a  body  of  bigot  conspirators  who  considered  the 
murder  of  one  of  God's  annointed  a  meritorious  act. 
John  MacHale  redeemed  Mayo,  which  is  now  nobly 
represented  by  Ireland's  most  upright,  talented  and 
accomplished  lay  son  George  Henry  Moore  of  Moore 
Hall,  who  ambitioned  not  a  seat  in  the  London  Senate, 


fPronoiinced  Log  ua  nuin — "  the  deep  pit  of  the  evil  spirits,"  a  part 
of  the  Atlantic  in  Clew  bay,  which  is  very  deep,  and  into  which  tradition 
sa^'s  St.  Patrick  hurled  all  the  serpents  in  Ireland,  and  from  the  top  of  the 
Reek ;  but  history  proves  that  no  serpents  were  ever  in  Ireland — that 
they  could  not  live  in  it.    It  was  the  spiritual  serpents  that  he  overcame. 


28 

but  it  was  forced  on  him  by  faithful  advisers  for  the  pur- 
pose of  affording  him  an  opportuity  of  defending  him- 
self against  poisoned  darts  that  might  be  aimed  at  him 
in  that  House,  and  which  he  could  not  outside  Parlia- 
ment repel  and  turn  against  his  as.sailants.  Again  the 
voice  of  Ireland  can  be  more  effectually  heard  from 
Parliament  through  the  agency  of  the  general  press, 
than  in  any  other  wa}^  except  perhaps  that  it  could  be 
more  potentiall}^  ard  with  greater  benefit  heard  by  the 
roar  of  canon,  and  the  clash  of  arms. 

Mr.  Moore,  M.  P.,  because  of  his  inflexible  integrity, 
his  unstained  character,  his  fidelity  to  the  faith  and 
nationality  and  his  rare  and  varied  erudition  has  been 
the  cherished  favorite  of  the  Archbishop  of  Tuam. 
Their  sympathy,  respecting  certain  paramount  princi- 
ples, has  formed  between  them  an  adamantine  bond, — 
an  indestructible  cement. 

HIS    GRACE   AS  A  HISTORIAN    AND    SCHOLAR. 

As  a  proficient  in  universal  history  his  Grace  has  no 
superior.  He  is  quite  at  home  when  treating  of  the 
history  of  any  country  of  all  ages.  The  arcana  of  the 
abstruse  sciences  he  so  mastered  in  his  younger  days 
that  he  talks  about  them  with  as  much  ease  as  though 
they  had  been  only  play  toys.     His  Grace  is  indeed 

"  A  poet,  naturalist  and  historian, 

"  Who  left  scarcely  any  style  of  writing  untouched, 

And  touched  nothing  that  he  did  not  adorn." 

When  other  names  will  have  faded  away  as  the  dew 
before  the  morning's  sun,  his  honored  name  will  last, 
imperishable  in  the  annals  of  his  own  country  and 
amongst  the  records  of  the  globe ;  and  although  these 
annals  and  those  records  should  moulder  away  and 
crumble  into  dust,    still  the   name    of  John  of  Tuam 


29 

shall  live  in  the  hearts  of  Irishmen    until    earth    is  no 
more. 

Qiup  te  tarn  hvta  lulerunt 
Sa'cula,  qui  tanti  talem  genuere  parentes ; 
In  frcta  dum  Huvii  currunt,  dum  montibiis  umhnc, 
Lustrabunt  convexa,  polus  dum  sidera  pascet,  ^^ 

Semper  honos,  noinenue  tuum,  lau  dcsque  Mianobunt. 

HIS    GRACE    ON    HIS  MISSION    THROUGH  HIS  DIOCESE. 

The  labors  and  dangers,  incident  to  the  discharge    of 
his  arduous  duties    throughout    his   extensive   diocese, 
comprising  as  it  does,  most  of,  and  some  of  the  most 
inaccessible  parts,  of  the  counties  of  Galway  and  Mayo, 
and  a  small  part  of  Roscommon,   afford    ample    theme 
for  several  lectures,  and,  though  opportunity    were  al- 
lowed me  to  give  in  detail   the  narrative,   seven   suns 
would  have  risen  in  the  east,  and    gone   down    in    the 
west  before   I   would    have  finished  my    labors       An 
angel  only  could  present  to  view  or  unveil    the    labors 
of  love  of  that  glorious  Prelate,  or  describe    the    anx- 
ieties he  must  have  experienced,  and    the   dangers   he 
has  encountered  in  his   more  than    human    efforts    to 
minister    to  his  flock,  as    well    in  the  remote   islands, 
mountains  and  almost  inaccessible   fastnesses  as  in  the 
open  country,  especially  in  the  dreadful  years  of  '46-7, 
'49  and  '63  and  64.  when  famine,  pestilence  and  exter- 
mination had  been  devouring  his  people,  when    thous- 
ands of  the  victims  crowded   around    him  for   shelter, 
bread  and  spiritual    consolation.     Protestant  landlords 
evicted  the  Catholic  tenants,  because  they    would   not 
send  their  children  to  Protestant  schools,  in  which  there 
was  certain  danger  to    their  faith    and    morals—where 
they  would  be  sure  to  be    robbed  of  the   precious    de- 
posit, transmitted  to  them  through  a  sea  of  blood.     To 
guard  these  "little  ones" — Christ's  lambs — against  con- 
tamination— his   Grace  has   had  always  to  be  on  "  the 
watch-tower  of  Israel."     Though  others  slept,   he   was 
the  sleepless    sentinel.     The  ravening  wolves  prowled 
about  the  fences,  and  his  Grace  in  person,  or  through  his 


30 

devoted  Priests,  had  to  keep  watch  to  gruard  the  fold 
and  drive  away  the  furious  beasts.  To  obviate  the 
pretext  for  the  introduction  of  the  so-called  "  national 
education" — an  insidious  machinery  for  proselytism, 
his  Grace  dotted  his  diocese  with  pious  and  learned 
Monks  of  the  Third  Order  of  St.  Francis  and  the 
Christian  Brothers,  whilst  in  every  town  where  it  was 
practicable,  he  established  Nunneries  in  which  the  fe- 
male children  of  the  rich  and  poor  could  obtain  an  ed- 
ucation, suited  to  their  lespective  sphere  in  life.  I 
speak  of  what  I  saw. 

THE    NUNS    AND    MONKS    OF    CLIFDEN. 

Even  in  the  town  of  Clifden — the  extreme  point  of  Con- 
namara — are  excellent  schools  for  female  children  under 
the  supervision  of  the  active,  zealous  and  pious  Eev. 
Mother  Amelia  White,  whose  name  is  familiar  even  in 
this  republic  by  reason  of  her  appeals  for  pecuniary  aid 
to  enable  her  to  shield  her  dear  flock  of  innocents  from 
the  wiles  and  deceits  of  the  "wicked  agents  of  prose- 
Ij^tism  whose  "Head-quarters  are  at  Exeter  Hall,  Lon- 
don, England."  The  good  Mother  Amelia  introduced 
me  to  her  dear  fifty  orphan  females — most  of  whom 
she  had  rescued  from  the  jaws  of  the  wolf  Herself 
and  her  tender  charge  have  been  the  object  of  his 
Grace's  paternal  solicitude. 

HIS    VISITATION    OF    THE    WESTERN    ISLES. 

In  the  most  inclement  part  of  winter  he  has  beeu 
known  to  travel  over  twenty  miles  before  day-light — 
and  through  the  wildest  district  of  country  in  order  to 
meet  the  small  boat,  intended  to  carry  him  into  one  of 
the  West  Isles  of  Arran,  thirty  miles  from  land — and 
on  a  tempestuous  sea,  to  discharge  his  episcopal  func- 
tions. And  when  he  was  importuned  not  to  venture 
on  so  boisterous  an  ocean — as  the  attempt  was  to  all 
appearance,  inevitable  death — his  Grace's  beautiful 
answer  would  be  "  I  promised  these  dear  peo])le — a 
portion  of  my  flock — to  meet  them  here  at   this   hour, 


31 

and  accompany  them  in  their  frail  bark  to  visit  their 
brother  islanders,  break  amongst,  and  minister  to,  them 
the  Bread  of  Life,  and  impart  to  them  the  consola- 
tions of  our  holy  religion.  I  must  keep  my  word.  I 
mnst  not  disappoint  them.  Go  I  must."  And  go  he 
did.  Scarcely  would  he  have  embarked  and  left  the 
shore,  when  the  winds  become  more  furious,  and  the 
sea  more  rebellious.  From  the  land  the  nervous 
spectators,  in  suspense,  beheld  the  small  craft  tossed 
aloft  on  a  mountain  billow — and,  then,  sinking  between 
the  frantic  waves,  disappeared  from  their  sight.  Like 
^neas  as  represented  by  Virgil  in  the  storm,  so  was 
it  with  his  Grace. 

"  Tollimur  in  ca'lum  curvato  gurfi;ite  et  iitlem 
Subducta  ad  Manes  imos  dcscendimus  unda." 

Again,  however,  the  skiff  appears  to  view — as  it  had 
been  heaved  aloft  on  the  back  of  swelling  and  limit- 
less rollers.  All  on  shore  are  aghast,  but  ''  John  of 
Tuam,"  is  at  his  ease.  Because  he  heard  his  Divine 
Master  whisper  to  his  mind  "  Nolite  timere,  ego  sum." 
"  Fear  not ;  it  is  L"  Again,  and  again  did  the  wild 
winds  and  maddening,  and  boiling  surges  buffet  the 
unsteady  bark — whirl  it  as  though  a  cork, — but,  never- 
theless, "  the  Shepherd  of  the  Fold,"  attended  to  the 
Avhisper  "  Ego  sum  ;  nolite  timere."  "  I  am  He.  Fear 
not.  I,  who  calmed  the  waves,  and  stilled  the  storm 
when  Peter  was  in  danger,  am  nigh.  You  shall  make 
land  in  safety."  And  so  did  his  Grace  arrive  safely. 
For  as  the  winds  fell  and  the  raging  waters  of  the 
ocean  were  calmed,  the  boat  put  into  harbor,  and  the 
Shepherd  received  such  a  welcome,  as  Irish  Catholics 
alone  know  how  to  extend  to  their  anointed  Pastors. 
Perils,  such  as  mentioned,  had  the  Archbishop  often  to 
encounter  in  visiting  the  isles  of  Boffin,  Achil  and  the 
historic  Clare-Island  in  Clew  Bay — the  fortress  of 
Granu  Uaile  or  Grace  O'Malley — the  Queen  of  the 
Western  Isles — in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 


32 
FATHER   LAVELLE- 

During  the  last  eleven  years  Father  Lavelle — well 
known  by  fame  as  the  Patriot  Priest  of  Partry,  but 
who  is  now  the  worthy  Pastor  of  the  united  parishes 
of  Cong  and  the  Neale — through  the  merited  appreci- 
ation of  his  Grace,  has  nobly  co-operated  with  the 
Archbishop  in  crushing  proselytism  and  exposing  land- 
lord tyranny.  Father  Lavelle  wields  a  ready  and  a 
powerful  pen  and  has  an  extraordinary  gift  of  lan- 
guage both  as  a  speaker  on  politics  and  as  a  finished 
pulpit  orator.  The  government  and  the  laws  of  England 
have  for  him  no  terror  when  the  cause  of  creed  and 
country  is  at  issue.  His  learned  letters,  eloquent  ser- 
mons, and  speeches  have  made  for  him  a  name  that 
will  never  die,  and  after  the  Archbishop  his  name  is 
cherished  by  all  genuine  Irishmen.  To  him  in  a  rural 
parish  may  be  appositely  applied  the  line  of  the  poet 
Young, 

"  And  pyramids  are  pyramids  in  vales." 

Father  Lavelle  as  a  Priest  and  George  Henry  Moore 
as  a  statesman,  have  shown  themselves  fearless  and  de- 
voted aides-de-camp  of  his  Grace.  "  John  of  Tuam",  has 
set  the  bright  example  to  his  countrymen  of  indexible 
fealty  to  the  old  faith,  and  a  firm  and  holy  resolve  to 
work  in  the  good  old  cause  until  not  a  foot  of  Irish 
soil  shall  belong  to  the  Saxon. 

Wl)cn  all  of  genius  that  must  perish,  dies, 
His  great  works  will  John  MacIIale  eternise. 

Let  us  hope  that  his  precious  life  though  now  in  its 
winter,  may  be  prolonged  until  his  fond  desire  as  re- 
gards Ireland  be  realized,  of  seeing  it 

"  Great,  glorious  and  free. 

First  tlower  of  the  earth,  first  gem  of  the  sea." 

[The  most  deafening  ap})lause  followed  as  the  lec- 
ture concluded.] 


ex 

H7o5 


EFC^V^ 


